July 1, 2015 The Loneliest Hwy in America-Hwy 50 in Nevada

Armed with my trusty Official Hwy 50 Survival Guide,AAA guide book and piles of literature I pick up everywhere we visit  we set off to discover the attractions on Hwy 50

Part of Hwy 50 follow the original Pony Express ,the Overland Stage coach  and Emigrant trail route. Just east of Fallon is the Sand Springs Pony Express station. There were stations about every 10 miles.  This station once had a few small rooms for living quarters, black smith, tack and storage, a stable and corral. There was no roof, and no furniture. The well had bad water. Not the best conditions. The ruins show very thick stone walls.

 

Another view of the Pony Express station ruins. There was a trail with interpretive signs. The station is next to Sand Mountain this big sand dune. It has ‘singing sand’- which cause a low moan when the sand shifts. To the Paiutes it is Panitogogwa, a giant rattle snake traveling north east with the wind to it’s back and the snake can be heard as it moves toward it’s hole.  It is a popular recreation area for ATV’s and sand boarders (snow boards on sand).

 

We saw lots of white lizards. Certain animals like scorpions and lizards have adapted to the harsh conditions by loosing their native cooler and turning albino to blend with the sand. Here is one of the lizards and a couple of the many wild flowers in the area. It was surprisingly green considering it has been over 100 degrees every day. The road marker with the L is for the Lincoln Highway, it is the first  coast to coast highway running from  New York to San Francisco and is a memorial to President Lincoln. Eisenhower  backed the idea for the use of moving troops across the nation and created the interstate system. Cement markers were placed along the highway by the boy scouts as a memorial in the 1920’s. Historic downtown Austin, Nv.  Cute little town of 192 people with lots of the old historic buildings that sprang up in 1862. Rumor has it that  a pony express pony kicked up a stone that was the cap on a silver laden cavern that ended up being a huge silver mine.

 

John is posing by the mysterious t-shirt mural in Austin. Next was Eureka, the friendliest town on the Loneliest road in America.

Eureka has many historic building dating from the 1880’s including the renovated opera house John is standing in. Performers have signed the walls downstairs and there is a small museum with the old equipment from the original opera house. The historic outhouse is a the only 5 seat outhouse in the whole state of Nevada.

 

The court house from the 1880’s was also renovated. This is the old court room that is still in use today. The building had fantastic woodwork. Next stop was Ely, Nevada. We went to the Nevada Northern Railway museum.It is America’s best preserved short line and complete rail facility. The complex include a full service rail yard encompassing 56 acres with 63 buildings with 9 steam and diesel locomotives- 5 still operating. It is a working rail yard and they still have many different train excursions.

Here are two of the steam engines as seen on TV. They will be having a fireworks ride on the 4th of July with fireworks shot off from the train. The engines are hooked up to the train to the right and off it goes.

 

This cool old engine photographed through the fence at the depot is called a spreader. It is a snow plow or bull dozer. The best part was the machine shop. Huge pieces of equipment they still use in maintaining the trains.  John is talking to master mechanic who still works on trains and is the rail inspector.

 

Pancake pass sounds like an oxymoron to me. I mean flat as a pancake and a pass?? The next two shots are from the machine shop. Gigantic drill bits and black smith tools.  The last one is the charcoal kilns east of town, we did not get out there, but here is a picture of a picture. John is standing on a steam powered wrecking crane. He must have been unable to read the sign that said do not climb on anything.

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After touring around town we went to the historic Hotel Nevada built in 1929. This is one of the many murals from around town. At the historic Nevada we gambled. After John made $10 and I lost $20 we gave up. We had dinner in the historic Cell Block Steak house. You get to eat in a jail cell. Fun place, good food.